Ponsa Muddo (Jackfruit idli Steamed in Banana leaves)

Ponsa Muddo is a sweet idli made from jackfruit. Ponosu in konkani means ripe jackfruit. These idlis are commonly made in South Kanara every year during the jackfruit season. There are a lot of konkani dishes for jackfruit. Authentically these idlis are steamed on Teak tree's leaves, which gives a different color and flavor to them.
I am not a big fan of jackfruit. But, now it had been a long time since I had eaten it. I felt bad whenever my amma told me that she made 'this or that' from jackfruit. When I told this with my sister-in -law, she told me that jackfruit is available in tin (in an Indian store). I went the next day in search of the tin and luckily I found it in the nearby store. Soon I completely forgot about it and its more than two months since I bought the tin. Finally I decided to make these idlis:-) The taste cannot be compared to the idlis made from fresh jackfruit. But still both of us were satisfied with the taste (we need to compromise with the taste for staying away from home:-)). It tastes even better when eaten with generous amount of ghee. This is my husband's favorite dish. My effort of making this was worth after seeing the happiness on his face:-)

Ingredients:

• Raw rice- 1 1/4 cup
• Ripe jackfruit- 1 1/2 cup (I used one tin of jackfruit in syrup)
• Grated coconut, fresh/frozen- 1/2 cup
• Jaggery- according to taste
• Cardamom pods- 4
• Banana leaves- As required

Procedure:

Soak rice for 1-2 hours. Grind it to a coarse consistency as you do for idli, without adding water ( you can also use rice rava). Transfer this to a bowl.

Now, chop the ripe jackfruit into small pieces (I washed it after removing from the tin and discarded the syrup)

Next step would be to grind the chopped jackfruit, grated coconut, jaggery and cardamom. Make a fine paste without adding water. Add this paste to the coarsely ground rice.

Mix it well.

Now clean the banana leaves and cut them into square or rectangular pieces. The leaves should be well dried. Now start putting a part of the mixture on one of the banana leaf piece as shown in the picture below (don't spread the mixture)

Now close the banana leaf from all sides and  place them carefully in a steamer. Steam it for 25- 30 minutes (refer my similar post Patholi ). Ponsa Muddo is ready!!

Serve it hot along with generous amount of ghee:-) I made 6 ponsa muddos. Above measurement serves two people.

Note: You can also steam the mixture in idli moulds.